HerbsLakeBoats.Com Great Lakes Ships Boats

Revised: July 18, 2006

She is not sailing at the moment (Getting a new diesel in Erie, Pa), but one of the hardest-working boats on the lakes is the Joseph H. Thompson tug-and-barge. She is an ITB (Intergrated Tug and Barge) owned by Upper Lakes Towing of Escanaba, MI. The "barge" is what remains of the Marine Robin, a 514-foot cargo carrier built in 1944 for the D-Day invasion. After the war she spent some time laid-up in reserve in Virginia, and when the Korean War came along in 1950, she was lengthend to 714 feet ( becoming the instant "Queen of the Lakes") and put to work on the lakes hauling iron ore.. She was converted to her current status in 1991.(photo by Herb Hammond)